Shaking table tests on a full-scale unreinforced and IMG-retrofitted clay brick masonry barrel vault

Abstract

The recent earthquakes in Italy demonstrated the extreme vulnerability of historical and cultural structures. Masonry vaults, which represent artistically valuable elements of these constructions, have been recognised among the most vulnerable elements. Traditional vault retrofit methods, such as buttresses or ties, are still widely adopted. These retrofit methods prevent differential displacements between vault supports (e.g., abutments, masonry piers and loadbearing walls). However, the pier differential displacement is not the only vulnerability source for vaults, and in many cases, further retrofit interventions are needed. Innovative retrofit methods based on inorganic matrixes, such as IMG, are aimed to prevent hinge mechanism failures. Such methods are suitable to be applied on vaults already retrofitted using traditional methods. \ud The knowledge of the seismic behaviour of a vault, once the differential displacement between the supports is prevented, can be crucial to the assessment of potential further vulnerabilities of vaults already retrofitted with traditional methods. \ud However, a deep knowledge of vault seismic behaviour is still lacking from an experimental point of view. Indeed, to date, few dynamic experimental studies have been conducted. Therefore, to investigate the seismic behaviour of masonry barrel vaults, several shaking table tests were performed on a full-scale specimen before and after the retrofit interventions. The tests investigated the main seismic properties of the tested structure and clarified the cracking mechanisms and capacity improvement due to the retrofit interventions. A comprehensive overview of the main results of the experimental tests has been presented

Shaking table tests and numerical analyses on a scaled dry-joint arch undergoing windowed sine pulses

“…Given the peculiarity of the material adopted and the overall low stress levels expected during the tests, the interface stiffness was assessed by means of a sensitivity analysis on the final results. The range of value was deduced from literature, for both FEM and DEM analyses (Lourenço 1996;Tóth et al 2009;Senthivel and Lourenço 2009;Lourenço et al 2010;Dimitri et al 2011;Ptaszkowska and Oliveira 2014;Dimitri and Tornabene 2015;Giamundo et al 2016). Moreover, with the aim of avoiding excessive block interpenetration, the limitation Kn > 0.1 N/mm 3 and Kt > 0.04 N/mm 3 (normal and tangential stiffness, respectively) have been assumed.…”

An indirect method to calibrate the interfacial cohesive material law for FRCM-concrete joints

“…Experimental tests showed that FRCM composites are effective in flexural strengthening [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10], shear strengthening [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], and confinement [18,19] of RC elements. Furthermore, they can be employed for in-plane and out-of-plane strengthening of masonry walls [20][21][22][23][24], and for strengthening of masonry arches and vaults [25][26][27][28][29][30].…”

Numerical Investigation of Masonry Strengthened with Composites

“…The geometry of the masonry refers to a masonry barrel vault actually tested at the University of Naples, Federico II [36,37]. In particular, the cross-section vault has dimensions b × s (width × height) equal to 2200 × 120 mm 2 .…”